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Chargers considering proposal to raise hotel tax

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers are preparing to announce
their own ballot initiative proposal to finance a downtown stadium and convention center expansion.

In a story published Tuesday night
by Voice of San Diego, Editor-in-Chief Scott Lewis wrote that sources said the Chargers will propose a ballot measure to increase the hotel room tax from 10.5 percent to 16.5 percent to help pay for a new convention center and stadium.

"Two sources close to the talks provided the outlines of the deal and said the mayor and industry leaders balked at supporting the measure but have not officially decided to oppose it," Lewis wrote.

KPBS asked Chargers' spokesman Mark Fabiani to comment on the proposed stadium plan but he declined.

"We're not there yet, in terms of a final draft or the support we would need to move forward," Fabiani said in an email.

Fabiani would only tell 10News that the Chargers brass is "looking into it."

He said he is evaluating a recent appeals court decision that seems to imply that citizen-sponsored initiatives are not bound by the two-thirds rule for approving special tax increases.